Blight?!





We had been warned of possible Blight conditions on last Sat and the optimum day for spraying was thurs but as we had a yellow weather alert for up to 30 mls of rain on fri that did not seem to be a good idea.
 I bought the mix for Bluestone, which is what is in the off the shelf spray Bordeaux mixture which is a recommended organic remedy.

Ravenscourt garden centre supplies the ingredients  ( Washing crystals & the blue Copper sulphate) and the mix ratio, it suited me as we only have a small amount of potatoes and of them only the Pink Fir Apple are not Blight resistant. The rain stopped on fri evening and I thought I would go out and spray as the weather had turned humid and misty, ideal blight conditions.
I was stopped in my tracks as soon as I reached the plot as the leaves on the Sarpo Axona were discoloured and seemed to be getting worse as I was looking at them! The worst affected were at the right hand side of the potato patch, a few were affected on the other rows and the Pink Fir Apple seemed relatively unaffected?!
 I had dissolved the washing crystals in hot water  and allowed to cool at home, I added the bluestone and sprayed the whole plot of potatoes.
We were out early on sat morning and I was amazed to find they did not look any worse than they did the previous night, I thought they would be wiped out!
A couple of others arrived with the same intention of spraying, all plots had some slight damage but none as bad as our Sarpo Axona?I was told by someone who always grows the blight resistant varieties that their foliage may get damaged but they grow new leaves and the tubers remain unaffected!
Close up of some leaves.
The courgettes seemed to be damaged also but as far as I know they don't get blight?
2 Sweetcorn plants had leaf damage, again I don't  think they should be affected by blight but I would love to know if anyone else had the same problem.
 The rain on fri was absolutely torrential and quite cold for this time of year and may have caused the blackening but then is it blight on the spuds or not?!
While I was cutting off damaged leaves and clearing them Billy was moving down the perimeter with the fork and turned over a fair amount of ground, 3 corners of the plot are now cleared which leaves around 1 third to be cultivated.
The weather has continued changeable and wet but summer is supposed to begin on wed!

Comments

Matron said…
I didn't think that those other veggies were prone to blight either. hmmmm
Yaya Snaps said…
ahhh the joys of gardening and especially organic gardening. You seem to have the situation in hand though so I'm hopeful all will continue to thrive.
Peggy said…
Matron, I am not too sure that was Blight?!They have all recovered, growing new leaves ,I will post an update photo soon
Peggy said…
Matron, I am not too sure that was Blight?!They have all recovered, growing new leaves ,I will post an update photo soon
Peggy said…
Theanne, you have far more confidence in my capabilities than I have and all I can do is hope things continue to thrive too!
Jesse Mason said…
Good reading tthis post

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